Tuesday, 21 January 2014

The University of
Cumbria's Institute for Leadership and Sustainability (IFLAS) has become the
first public university in the world to accept Bitcoin for the
payment of tuition fees.

The move comes with
the launch of courses that examine the role of complementary currencies in
economic and social systems. UoC believes it is the first public university in
the world to accept Bitcoin as payment for course fees.

Bitcoin is an online
currency and payment system that already enables the international transmission
of funds per day at an amount greater than Western Union. Thousands of
merchants now accept Bitcoin worldwide. The university uses the system Bitpay
to process any payments.

The founder and
director of IFLAS, Professor Jem Bendell (pictured), explains the move: “We
believe in learning by doing, and so to help inform our courses on
complementary currencies, we are trialling the acceptance of them. The internal
discussions about currency and payment innovation and the practical
implications for different departments have been insightful.”

The reason IFLAS has
launched a course on these topics is due to the growing practice of currency
innovation and the potential it presents for significant societal change.
Professor Bendell continues: “Some support Bitcoin due to its speed and
cost, others due the new era of financial freedom it could enable. Others are
concerned about it and how it will affect economies and society. Others think
that what comes next will be even more important. We think it is essential to
become better informed, and analyse it from many different perspectives.”

In May last year
IFLAS co-organised the first symposium by the United Nations on complementary
currencies and has an active research programme on this topic, including PhD
students.

Late last year a
private university in Cyprus announced it would accept Bitcoin, but the
University of Cumbria is the first public university to do so, and for courses
that are already validated and accepting students. Cumbria’s system for
accepting payments, via the Bitpay system, is already operational.

FAQs on the University of Cumbria and
alternative currencies

The University of
Cumbria has announced it will accept payment for courses via Bitcoin. It
understands this makes it the first public university in the world to do so. It
will accept Bitcoin for payment of two specific courses that relate to currency
innovation, and learn from the process and incorporate that into its teaching.

Is the university accepting payments in
Bitcoin for fees?The university facilitates students to use one of the transaction
services such as Bitpay to pay their fees using their Bitcoin, for the
Postgraduate Certificate in Sustainable Leadership and the Certificate of
Achievement in Sustainable Exchange. This facility is on a trial basis and will
be assessed on an ongoing basis and also at the end of 2014.

Is it the first university to do so?We understand we are the first public university to facilitate payments
using the Bitcoin system, the first British university to do so, and the
world’s first Business School to do so. A private university in Cyprus recently
announced it will accept Bitcoin for fees.

Why is the university doing this?First, this is an area of our expertise. The university’s Institute for
Leadership and Sustainability (IFLAS) is a leader in complementary currency
research, education and dialogue. In May 2013 it co-organised the first United
Nations conference on complementary currencies. Its director, Professor Jem
Bendell publishes and supervises PhDs in this field. In 2014 we launch what we
understand to be the world’s first Certificate of Achievement in complementary
currencies, as part of the Postgraduate Certificate in Sustainable Leadership.
The tradition of the university in action research and applied research means
our academics naturally seek to learn by analysing practice. Therefore we will
study the experience of facilitating payments by one complementary currency
system, Bitcoin for this particular course.

Second, we are open
to relevant innovations in payment technology that could increase options for
our students.

Third, we recognise
the attention being given to Bitcoin at present, and as we have relevant
expertise and courses on offer, think that we should make these resources
widely known to both enthusiasts and critics.

What are the university’s views on
Bitcoin and alternative currencies?The university does not have a view on Bitcoin or alternative
currencies. Our academics have a variety of views. IFLAS has specialist
knowledge in the field of complementary currencies. Its director, Professor Jem
Bendell, has worked in this field for four years, and is a leading commentator
on the topic. IFLAS and Professor Bendell consider complementary currencies to
be important for sustainable development if designed and managed well. They
consider there is currently much misunderstanding about complementary
currencies, both misinformed criticism and superficial hype, which is a reason
for our courses on the topic. The Bitcoin unit may vary in value, and opinions
differ on that value, yet the key innovation is the system it is based on,
which is a global ledger maintained by any computers that download the relevant
software and have the appropriate hardware and internet connection. The
evolution of payment technology and currencies poses many opportunities and
issues for all sectors of society, so deserves our research, discussion and
impartial advice.

What are the benefits for students and
the university?Students can benefit from experimenting with a new means of payment if
they have Bitcoin. The university can benefit from experiencing complementary
currencies and be recognised for that.

What are the risks for students and the
university?We advise against students purchasing Bitcoin in order to pay their
fees. They should only use this facility if they already have Bitcoin, or can
receive Bitcoin donations in order to pay their fees. We make this clear due to
the risk of currency volatility. The university does not risk currency
volatility as we use transaction services that convert the Bitcoin into GBP at
the time of payment. Bitpay is a US-based company that enables thousands of
merchants to accept Bitcoin. Last year it secured investment from the founders
of Paypal. In future we may use others systems or have our own Bitcoin wallet
but this is something we are currently examining. There are misunderstandings
about Bitcoin and this is a trial move by the university, where we
approach it as a learning exercise and welcome feedback. Payments made
using Bitcoin and any requested refunds will be subject to the university's
tuition fee policy.

Will the university accept other
currencies in future?The university will learn from this trial and develop its awareness of
innovations in complementary currencies and payment technology.

Monday, 20 January 2014

People are taking notice of IFLAS. During its first year,
IFLAS and its team featured in British newspapers six times, on the radio
twice, on television twice, in international media outlets over ten times, and
in specialist sustainability magazines twice.

The Director appeared on Al Jazeera television explaining
the need for community currency innovation (Money for Nothing: Counting the Cost),
and our Associate Scholar Will Ruddick then appeared on that station discussing
his action-research project in Kenya to create a local currency for a poor
neighbourhood (Counting the Cost of Aid). That project
generated dozens of newspaper and TV appearances in Kenya itself and a retrospective from Al Jazeera.
Professor Bendell also wrote for Al Jazeera about the benefits and limitations
of attending the World Economic Forum in Davos (Uncovering Davos Ma’am).

The need for a more sustainable financial system was the
subject of articles in The Times and the Mail on Sunday, which focused on
Professor Bendell’s reasons for switching his account to The Cumberland
Building Society (Give Your Bank Its Marching Orders).
Jem’s lecture tour in Australia on Bitcoin and the need for sensible currency
innovation appeared in their leading daily newspaper The Australian (The Rise of Bitcoin to Put the Bite on Banks).

Young Global Leaders are chosen by the forum for having demonstrated
leadership for the common good on a global stage, and include people such as
Kumi Naidoo (Greenpeace CEO), Hannah Jones (Head of Sustainability at Nike),
and Chuka Umunna MP. The Forum of Young Global Leaders meets on Monday,
January 20 in Davos, Switzerland, ahead of the Davos Summit.

Professor Bendell is the first academic from the UK to be accepted
onto the programme.

He said: “I am delighted to be accepted on to this Harvard programme, which
gives me the chance to experience the latest approaches to leadership
education, and also to share our own approaches in the Lake District.

“Harvard provides elite education to some of the world’s most
influential people, in a class-based setting. In Cumbria we have a tradition of
experiential learning, and a liking for taking our executive students into
nature and to local heritage sites, to stimulate their reflection. I think in
future we will see more combinations of such approaches.”

Through a partnership between the Harvard Kennedy School, the
Center for Public Leadership and the World Economic Forum, the programme has
been developed to expand and enhance the leadership skills of Young Global
Leaders, necessary to address the world’s most serious problems. The curriculum
considers critical global policy areas such as education, environment, global
health, international development, and security, and is provided free of charge
due to sponsorship.

As the world’s first professor of sustainability leadership,
Professor Bendell recognises the need to blend insights from leadership
development and the challenge of sustainable development.

“Ultimately
we need to better understand how to lead across borders, for the greater good,
not only for our organisation,” he explains.